Improvement in hand-looms



UNITED 'STATES ArlENr Errea.

JOHN G. HENDERSON AND HENRY T. HENDERSON, OF SALEM, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAND-LOOMS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. d. dated March 14, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN G. [lENDEnsoN and HENRY T. HENDERSON, ofSalem, Henry county, Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement,in Hand-Looms; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description ot' the construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawing, making a part ot thisspecication.

Said drawing is a perspective view of the principal parts of the loomfrom the back part, which gives a clear view of all the machineryexcepting such parts as are not necessary to illustrate our invention.

Our invention consists- First. In constructing a picker-staff in theAform of a pulley, having an arm projecting therefrom, and in pivotingthe pulley upon a bolt secured in a mortise in the center of the lay, sothat the statt` shall protrude toward the breast-beam, and attaching astrap by a screw or bolt to that side of the pulley which is opposite tothe staff, and fastening the other end of the strap to the breast-beam.A string is then tied to this strap a few inches from the end that isattached to the pickerstaff, the other end of this string being fastenedto an upright located behind the lay, SJ that as the lay is broughtforward the strap is drawn by the string over the top of the pulley tothe side toward the shuttle, and as the lay is thrown back the strapthrows the pickerstaft' around and throws the shuttle into the otherbox; and, again, as the lay comes forward the strap is drawn to the sideof the pulley toward the shuttle, and again the shuttle is thrown intothe other box, the strap being always drawn by the string to the side ofthe picker-staff toward the shuttle.

Second. In placing` a shaft across the loom, behind the lay, andplacing` a ratchet on it, and placing a pawl on the ratchet whichcatches in notches cut in the shaft, so that the ratchet and pawl mayroll loosely one way, but in rolling the other way the pawl shall engagewith the notches, and so turn the shaft. This ratchet is attached to thelay in such manner that it rolls one way as the lay vcomes forward andthe other way as the lay goes backward, rolling the shaft partly aroundat each forward motion of the lay. Treadles are placed over each end ofthis shaft, which work on a journal behind, and are hinged or looselyattached to thc heddle-shafts in front by stiff rods. Pins are placed inthe shaft at each end under the treadles, so that as the lay comesforward the heddle shaft or shafts that are required up for the nextshed'are elevated and remain upv until the lay starts forward again. Apiece of wood with its operative end beveled upward, if desirable, isattached to each sword of the lay, and extends backward, so that all theshafts that are not elevated are taken down by these two pieces, makingthe shed complete when the shuttle passes. A stop is used to prevent theshaft from rolling too far around. It is pivoted at the lower end to theframe, and is operated by the lay through a connectingarm, so that thelay,as it comes forward,brings the stop under the pins in the shaft,arresting the rotation,v and goes out from under them as the lay goesback again.

The better to illustrate our improvement we have made a drawing, inwhich G D E Fis the frame. B B is the lay, constructed with swords,shuttles boxes, bickerblocks, and straps. G G is the tie that holds theloom together. K K are uprights, and L L the top rail, all of which arecommon to most looms.

The shuttle is thrown by machinery in the center of the lay. Thepickerstaff d is made to work on an upright bolt in the bottom of amortise, as seen at x, and the strap c is fastened to the picker-staifatn, and goes forward and is fastened to the breast-beam H at I. Thestring e is fastened to the strap c at the point o, and to the uprighta, which is placed directly behind the center of the lay. As the lay isbrought forward,the string e draws the strap c over the pulley of thepicker-staff d to the side toward the shuttle, and as the lay is thrownback the strap c throws the pickerstaff around and throws the shuttleinto the other box, and the string e, drawing to the center, turns thestraps c in a similar manner over to the other side, and so on,repeating the operation ofthrowiu g the shuttle from one box to theother at each backward motion of the lay.

` The upper shed is produced by the shaft f f, which is rolled around bythe pawlg/ of ratchet g, which is attached to the lay by means of thestift rod r, passing under the ratchet g.

The mode of attachment is as follows: A strap is fastened at one end tothis rod r at t, and,

passing around the ratchet g, is fastened to it at the side opposite therod 1', and goes on around7 and is fastened to the rod r again at s. Asthe lay comes forward, the pawl or catch l, thus operated by this strap,rolls t-he shaft f f around, and throws up one or more of the pins, z' il', which are placed near each end of said shaft, which pins raise thetreadles, a set of which is placed on each side ofthe loom, as seen at hh. They are fastened at m., and come forward over each end of the shaftff, and throw up whatever heddles are required for the next shed, andhold them up until the shuttle is thrown.

The lower shed is made by the depressers b b, each of which is placed onthe swords of the lay at such point that it will pass under the treadlesthat are elevated, but will slide in upon those that remain down, andcarry them down just far enough to make the lower shed, and, again, asthe lay comes forward, the shaft ff turns up another set of pins,elevating another set of treadles, and the depressers b b take down theremaining treadles, thus mal;- ing a complete yshed whenever the shuttlepasses.

The stop u is used to prevent the shaft j' f from rollin gtoo far. Itispivoted on the frame,

and is operated by the lay through the connecting-arm e, so that thestop u comes under the pins i i i as the lay comes forward, and passesout from under them as the lay goes back.

What we claim as our invent-ion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. So arranging a flexible strap that as the lay comes forward it willbe drawn alternately from one side of the piekerstaff to the other, andas the lay goes back will throw the piekerstaff around, and throw theshuttle back and forth, as required, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the shaft f f, ratchet g and its pawl, rod fr,pins i z' i, treadles h h, and stop u, for the purpose of elevating theupper shed as the lay comes forward and retaining it until the shuttleis thrown and the depressers b b, placed on the swords, for the purposeof taking theremainingtreadles down as the lay goes backward,substantially as described.

JOHN G. HENDERSON. HENRY T. HENDERSON. Attest:

H. C. SANDERS, J. M. WINTER.

